Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile device computing and more particularly to location based application deployment for mobile device computing.
Description of the Related Art
Mobile device computing pertains to the use of a mobile device such as a “smart phone” or personal digital assistant to perform computing tasks in a fashion similar to that of a personal computer. Indeed, the distinction between personal computer and mobile computing device has become blurred as the power of the mobile computing device in the marketplace today exceeds that of the personal computer just a few years ago. However, the manner in which applications are deployed to the mobile computing device often differs from the manner in which applications are deployed to the personal computer. In this regard, while the personal computer generally enjoys carte blanche in selecting applications for deployment, mobile computing devices often are dependent upon remote computing repositories controlled by an administrative entity charged with limiting the type, nature and arrangement of mobile computing applications to be deployed to one or more mobile computing devices grouped in a network of mobile computing devices.
Classically, mobile device computing provides for an extension of conventional personal computing. Specifically, within the enterprise and even in the circumstance of the individual, users of the mobile computing device utilize applications that supplement more robust applications deployed at the desktop. Examples include lightweight remote messaging clients, remote forms based data collection applications, and lightweight portal views to server stored data. Yet, users of the mobile computing device also utilize applications that capitalize on the natural ability of the mobile computing device to recognize a contemporaneous geographic location through geographic positioning system (GPS) technology, or geo-positioning data derived from a mobile telephony signal or the base station with which a mobile device communicates. Examples include mapping and navigation applications, and even newer social media applications that share the contemporaneous location of peers in a social network.
Of note, in both the desktop computing paradigm and in the mobile device computing paradigm, application deployment depends upon an ability to access a remote repository of pre-stored and cataloged applications. Whereas in the desktop environment, the end user also can deploy an application to the desktop through the use of physical media like a disc, the user of the mobile computing device largely is limited to the retrieval of a desired application over the computer communications network from a remote repository. In the latter circumstance, the end user is further limited to those applications pre-assembled and arranged for distribution.
Recent advances in mobile computing do allow a degree of customization of an application once deployed to the mobile computing device. For example, the end user of the mobile computing device can create an ad hoc arrangement of desired data (and not applications) for display in a single portal view--such as by configuring a view to include different, customized really simple syndication (RSS) feeds of data from different sources, or by configuring a view to include different fields of a form for data collection. Still, the end user cannot readily share the resulting portal view with other mobile computing device users. Mobile computing device end users can configure a map to include different points of interest for sharing with other mobile computing device users, however, those maps provide little else other than the customization by the end user once shared.